The Tweed Commission claims that beavers will damage salmon fishing industry
Magnus Linklater
Feb 06, 2009
SOURCE: The Times
Releasing beavers into the wild would pose a serious threat to the future of the Scottish salmon fishing industry, according to the Tweed Commission, which manages Scotland's most productive salmon river.
In a strongly worded statement, the commission accused conservation agencies of spreading misinformation about the effect of beavers, which, the commission said, would block rivers, prevent fish migration and cause flooding in the river tributaries where salmon and sea trout spawn.
A six-year trial involving the reintroduction of beavers in Argyll is due to start this spring. However, the commission said its own new research showed that the animals, which build dams on rivers, would have a seriously damaging effect on an industry which is a major employer in Scotland.
Mike Russell, the environment minister, came back at the commission yesterday, accusing it of extreme discourtesy by attacking the plans instead of joining in the consultation process.
“They are indulging in megaphone diplomacy and gesture politics. Scottish Natural Heritage is engaged in a consultation process, and the commission should be part of it. I invited them to take part in discussions and they have not had the courtesy to respond to my calls,” he said.
“I am very keen that the salmon interests should join in the process of supervising these trials and be part of the debate, despite the abusive letters they have been sending me. But I will not be bullied by them.”
Nick Yonge, the clerk to the Tweed Commission, expressed surprise at the minister's comments. “We haven't been asked to join the debate,” he said. “The first call we had from the minister was yesterday afternoon. We are only too happy to discuss it, so long as people are prepared to recognise that beavers have a potentially damaging effect on fishing. So far, no one has looked at the facts, which we are now presenting.”
Mr Yonge said that scientific research on the subject shows that beavers can have a disastrous effect on salmon spawning grounds. Beaver dams create instream ponds and flood the land above them, he said. “While this suits some species, it does not suit our native fish, which are mostly migratory and need to move up and down our rivers.
“We need to know what the capacity is for beavers in Great Britain, say, in 50 years' time, and then match that with the changes we know they can make. An estimate could then be made of the cost of controlling beavers, which has to be undertaken in all other countries with mature beaver populations. Only then can a rational decision be made to introduce beavers to Britain or not.”
Andrew Douglas-Home, the chairman of the Tweed Commission, said: “The beaver protagonists have consistently maintained that beavers and beaver dams are entirely beneficial to fish populations. However, this is simply not borne out by the available scientific evidence.”
Mr Douglas-Home called for the government to give an assurance that all the beavers would be removed at the end of the trial, regardless of its conclusions. “Any unrestrained release of the trial beavers may well act as a catalyst for further releases elsewhere, with inevitable consequences for the future of our world-renowned fisheries,” he said.
Ronald Campbell, who analysed the commission's scientific data, said:
“Unfortunately, a great deal of misinformation about beavers and fish has been put into the public domain. This has led to a failure to appreciate the very significant differences between salmon in the Scottish landscape and climate and salmon elsewhere.”
Dr Campbell said that the new research was aimed at giving the public a clear appreciation of what it would mean to fisheries to have dams scattered across the headwater and tributary streams of Scotland in a way that, he said, would simply not be permissible for humans to do.
However, Mr Russell said that there was no proposal as yet to release beavers more widely.
